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VICTOR, Idaho— In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the Northern Rockies fisher, a rare and vanishing species, may warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Fishers are cat-like, medium-sized members of the weasel family with slender, brown bodies and long, bushy tails. Related to minks and otters, and the only true predators of porcupines, these fishers once inhabited old-growth forests from northeastern Washington, Idaho, Montana and northwest Wyoming to north-central Utah. Trapping and loss of habitat from logging decimated the population, and Northern Rockies fishers are now found only along the border of Idaho and northern Montana. The Service will now undertake a one-year status review to determine if federal protection is warranted.